Local Freemasons known for their history, mystery and community service

Five members of the local Freemasons were recently elevated to the rank of Master Masons: in front, from left, James Wallace, Michael Trotta, Ian Duncan, Anthony Di Gioacchino and Patrick Cimo. Rising Sun Lodge No. 103 Master Doug Missimer wears his top hat as he stands with other officers in the back. (ED BURKE/eburke@saratogian.com)

SARATOGA SPRINGS -- Rising Sun Lodge No. 103 stands serenely on the corner of North Broadway and First Street, home to a historic fraternity steeped in myth and legend that is also a modern-day service organization.

The Freemasons have been in Saratoga since 1808. Saratoga's 80 Masons support one another and the community, seeking to make the world a better place.

Among the Rising Sun Lodge's initiatives is the free Masonic Safety Identification Program. The Masons photograph and fingerprint children and give the records to their parents for safekeeping. Now, the elderly can take part as well -- having their information is helpful if senior citizens wander away or become lost.

The Saratoga Springs Masons began the program on First Night 2013 and plan to make it available at fire department open houses and the state fair, as well as at the lodge throughout the year. The I.D. program will be offered from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 19, at the Rising Sun Lodge, 687 N. Broadway.

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"This is a great program. It will increase safety awareness," said Jonathan Lerman, junior deacon at the lodge. "We're excited about bringing it to the schools."

Rising Sun also will host a Red Cross blood drive in the early spring and has adopted a stretch of Route 50 -- from the Saratoga Springs Hilton to the Northway -- to tend.

For those who are simply curious about a once-secret society, the Masons offer public dinners several times a year. On St. Patrick's Day, they will serve a corned beef dinner at the lodge from 3 to 7 p.m. Ask the brothers, as they call one another, to pass the cabbage and recount the history of Masonry.

"To be one, ask one," said Paul D. Levin, secretary and past master of the Rising Sun Masons. "That's our saying. We don't go out and seek new members. It's our tradition to wait until they come to us. Interest brings them in."

Another tenant of the Masons is to learn and grow. The Freemasons date back to the Middle Ages and the stone masons' guilds that built castles and cathedrals. From supporting one another as craftsmen, the Masons went on to become a fraternity that upheld strong values and community service.

Lodges spread throughout the world, and in the United States some of the earliest leaders joined. Among them were George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and John Hancock. In modern times, such notables as Buzz Aldrin, Franklin D. Roosevelt and John Wayne have been Masons.

Membership isn't kept secret. Members are proud to say they are Masons. The secrecy comes in some of the time-honored rituals.

"The rituals are woven into the organization," Lerman said. "This is the oldest fraternal organization in the world. Other groups often came from the Masons -- the Shriners are a branch of ours."

This history and the symbolism associated with it are important to obtaining the first three degrees, Levin said. These degrees are courses of knowledge that confer upon a brother the titles of Entered Apprentice, Fellowcraft and Master Mason. Further degrees take Masons step by step to the top of their organization.

Although women, girls and boys younger than 21 are not allowed to join the Masons, the society has formed other allied groups for them.

A third reason Masonry appeals to its members is the camaraderie -- the brotherhood that brings them together.

Masonry runs in the family for Bill Williams, senior deacon, who's been a brother for 17 years. He is a third-generation Mason on both sides of his family.

Phil Stevens, a past master, is 77 and one of Saratoga's oldest members. He has been a Mason for 48-1/2 years. He goes to a different Masonic lodge every night of the week, so he always has a meeting to look forward to.

"I enjoy being with all the brothers," Stevens said, smiling. "They come to me for advice."